I read a recent article in The Atlantic magazine, and it featured an article written by an author whose new book is called iGen.  She says that is her name for people born after 2005, and it all coincides with 2012, at which time 50% of the population all had phones.  I think what she says though relates to many who had phones before that and who are mostly aged about 16 to 20 now.

The article goes on to detail how today’s teenagers are in fact unhappier than ever before.  Usage of devices is up, suicide rates are up and everything else is down, including in particular, sleep.

It has become all too easy for modern parents to give their little darling an iPhone, possibly even an iPad as well as a computer and the children are running back and forth from one device to another.  They don’t play outside very much anymore, they seldom actually meet with their friends, and they lie in bed late at night messaging people back and forth every day.  They have accounts on Instagram, they try to keep SnapChat streaks going and they are committing suicide in higher numbers than ever before.  Incidentally, suicide numbers reduce considerably when somebody plays sport and goes to church.  The main thrust of the article is that today’s teenagers are not happier because of the devices their parents are giving them.  They are far less happy than ever before.  Their lives are being spent on these little screens, and girls in particular are getting bullied by other girls and ostracised on social media.  It is a mistake that parents are making, and I do hope that the anti-cell phone movement grows.  There are certainly already signs that more astute parents don’t give their children devices – let’s not forget that the man who was in charge of Apple, Steve Jobs, did not allow his children to have devices – they could not have iPhones or iPads.  His company simply sold them to your children.  

He knew how bad they were, he could see their negative effects and his company has presided over making money out of you, but he certainly did not let his own children have such devices.  Remember that when your child begs and pressurises you for a cell phone, start reading up on this topic because it is actually the weaker and worse parents who are giving in to this with all sorts of excuses such as they spend a lot of time at work or their child needs it to learn, etc, etc.  Your child does not need an IPad or iPhone to learn anything unless you want him or her to become skilled at computer games and online chat!  The children themselves are not happier for it, no matter what they tell you in order for you to pay to get them that device and that device ends up replacing you as parents and ruling their lives and ends up being the conduit for the bullying of your child.  Think carefully before you go down that road and also try and think more critically.  Stop making and looking for excuses for the easy way out when it comes to having kids.  It is so easy to simply, as a grandparent or as a parent, give a device and chase the child off into another room to play with the device – but are you really doing your bit when you behave like that?  The early feedback, the early statistics and indicators on the current generation would suggest that you will bring up a depressed and socially inept loser if you take the easy route.  I personally think that in about 10 to 15 years’ time most parents in developed nations will ban their children from having such devices or limit them to no more than 30 minutes a day on the devices.  I guess then, just like with the cigarette and sugar companies, those companies will have to start targeting the poor, the developing nations and start pumping cheaper versions of their products into Africa and elsewhere in much bigger numbers.